A Message from the Desk of Dr. Kory Ward-Cook, CEO
Holiday Message 2013

ceo_messageThe holidays always carry with them a myriad of memories and reflections, as well as expectations for the year to come. As the 2013 Holiday Season fast approaches, the NCCAOM Board of Commissioners and staff take this opportunity to sincerely thank all of our Diplomates, candidates and colleagues for your outstanding support and efforts to advance the AOM profession.

The year 2013 is represented by the Black Water Snake, according to one Chinese horoscope, and is known to be “a year of steady progress and attention to detail”. In retrospect this year the NCCAOM Board, staff and our many committee and panel members were immersed in projects and activities that required meticulous attention to detail that were vital to our work. One such endeavor was the completion of the 2013 Job Analysis (JA). Thank you to all the JA Panel members that assisted with the creation of the Job Analysis Survey and the decision-making that led to the publication of the new NCCAOM®Exam Content Outlines.

The data collected from the Job Analysis Survey will be utilized in a variety of ways. Some of the data will be used to provide updated workforce data to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for the advancement of the AOM profession in obtaining an independent occupational code. In 2014 the BLS’s Standard Occupational Classification Policy Committee (SOCPC) will be reviewing proposals, from numerous disciplines, to have certain job titles recognized or updated for inclusion in the next publication of the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC). Inclusion of a specific SOC for acupuncturists will be made in 2015 and, if accepted, will be implemented in 2018. Information provided on the complete progress update with the BLS may be found on our website.

The primary purpose of the 2013 JA Survey is to validate the content for the NCCAOM examinations, and therefore, to link to the new exam content outlines and the NCCAOM® Study Guides.

Thank you to all who took the time to complete the 2013 Diplomate Satisfaction Survey. Your valuable feedback provided guidance to offer even better services to assist our Diplomates. NCCAOM always strives to promote our Diplomates and their certifications. One of our organizational goals is to continue to enhance the public profile of our Diplomates and the acupuncture and Oriental medicine (AOM) profession. The 2013 Diplomate Satisfaction Survey was conducted from July 11 to August 15, 2013. A total of 1,353 Diplomates responded to and completed the survey. The results of this survey now serve as a new benchmark, as NCCAOM continues to strive for increased customer satisfaction.

Also in 2013, NCCAOM staff created two new NCCAOM fact sheets to educate and inform our stakeholders and the public on the importance of the NCCAOM examination and certification process to ensure the safe and effective practice of AOM. These fact sheets are available on the NCCAOM website. NCCAOM® Fact Sheets recently posted to the NCCAOM website are: the general NCCAOM® Certification and Testing Program Fact Sheet and the Information for California Licensed Acupuncturists about the NCCAOM Testing and Certification Program Fact Sheet .

Another area of expansion for the NCCAOM this past year is in the area of forming strategic partnerships. The NCCAOM was fortunate to form a strategic partnership with MindBody Exchange, formerly Jill’s List, which is an online community dedicated to helping complementary and integrative healthcare practitioners market and grow their practices. Credentialed complementary and integrated healthcare practitioners can create a free business listing on MindBody Exchange which is searchable by patients, doctors, and other members of the healthcare community. Please see the featured article in this issue of the e-news regarding more opportunities for NCCAOM Diplomates to promote themselves via MindBody Exchange. Strategic partnerships such as this benefit Diplomates by facilitating a wider audience reach. The NCCAOM is continually seeking ways to stimulate the growth and recognition of our Diplomates and the AOM profession. The MindBody partnership is a good example of that effort.

This year the NCCAOM also entered the waters of social media through its creation of our Facebook page which garnered over 1,200 ‘likes’ within the first 24 hours and at this writing has over 2,300 likes and countless ‘shares’ of posted articles all benefiting the practice of AOM.

At the Diplomate webinar presented on May 1, 2013, we conducted a poll to help us determine which social media channel was at that time perceived to be more important to our Diplomates as the next social media communication tool from the NCCAOM. We offered the choice of LinkedIn or Twitter, and LinkedIn received the most votes. As a result, we launched the NCCAOM LinkedIn page September 9, 2013.

As the NCCAOM approaches 2014, the Year of the Wood Horse, we look ahead with hope to strengthen old bonds, create new partnerships and with the “spirit of the horse”, make unremitting efforts to enhance our collective future.

Thank you for all your support.